


a faith unshaken

by panderegla



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Spoilers for both Primrose and Ophilia's stories, Post-Game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:35:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27025927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panderegla/pseuds/panderegla
Summary: “We have very different ideas of faith, you and I.”
Relationships: Primrose Azelhart/Ophilia Clement
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28
Collections: Octopath Femslash Week 2020





	a faith unshaken

**Author's Note:**

> written for octopath femslash week day 4: faith. primrose/ophilia is such an interesting dynamic and i thought that they could both learn a lot from each other. so, here's something short and sweet and sappy with a little (or maybe more than a bit of) angst

“We have very different ideas of faith, you and I.”

Ophilia’s figure emerges into the firelight, quiet and timid. “Do we?”

Primrose smiles at her wryly. “I could never put my faith in the same things that you do, Phili.” She stares up at the raised dais behind the priest’s altar, at the First Flame burning bright and blue and constant amid the darkness of the cathedral, defiant against the cold blizzard that howls outside.

“You have faith in something that you cannot see. You believe in something - in someone - who, in turn, sees you as nothing more than a single speck of dust in a universe that’s forever changing.” She pauses and looks down. “I just can’t fathom putting all of my faith into something as great and uncertain as that.”

Ophilia draws closer and drapes a thick woolen blanket over Primrose’s shoulders. She smiles, ever patient and gentle. “It’s late, Prim. We’re due for an early start tomorrow if we hope to get to Noblecourt soon.” She reaches down and intertwines her fingers with Primrose’s. “Come back to bed.”

Primrose looks between Ophilia’s face and their clasped hands. “Just give me a little more time,” she says, her voice soft and almost pleading. “It’s...hard to go to sleep with all these thoughts in my head.”

Ophilia’s expression turns more sympathetic and she squeezes Primrose’s hand. “If you need a listening ear, you know that I’m always here.”

Primrose looks away towards the altar and the blue flames dance in her eyes. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Well I’m awake now.”

“Still, I don’t want to be a bother.”

Ophilia shakes her head. “You could never be a bother to me, Prim. Here, let’s have a seat and then you can tell me about your thoughts whenever you’re ready.”

There’s hesitation clear in Primrose’s eyes, a fleeting moment of trepidation and caution, before she sighs and nods her head. “You always did have a way of convincing people, didn’t you?”

Ophilia shrugs. “I like to believe it’s a talent.”

“Well whatever it is, I need to find some way to resist it before you uncover all my secrets.”

They sit at the nearest wooden pew on the front row, within the circle of light centered around the Flame. The world beyond where the light touches is full of shadows that not even the sanctity of the cathedral can repel, but near the warmth of the Flame, it feels as if they are the only two people in the world. Primrose leans against Ophilia, resting her head on the cleric’s shoulder, and Ophilia does the same, leaning against Primrose. For a while, they stay there, silent and motionless as they watch the First Flame burn on its eternal dais. 

“About what you said earlier,” Ophilia begins, her voice low and careful, “about having faith in something you can’t see. Are you perhaps thinking about your father?”

Primrose’s gaze is distant. “I never really realized how long it’s been until it was all over. How long since I actually saw him. Sometimes, I don’t even remember the sound of his voice, and every day it becomes harder and harder to picture his face. I…” She laughs, mirthless and hollow. “I guess I’m scared that I’ll just forget everything about him one day. And then I’ll have nothing to hold on to anymore.”

Ophilia wraps one arm around Primrose’s waist, a gentle and reassuring gesture. “Time is just the cruelest sometimes, isn’t it?”

Primrose wipes at something in her eye. “I’m sorry. How could I be so insensitive? And so soon since your own loss too.”

Ophilia shakes her head. “There’s nothing you need to apologize for. Father--” She stops, sighs then continues, “There was nothing else we could have done. Lianna and I have made peace with that fact. Now all I want to do is help you make peace with your own loss.”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Primrose says. “I...know that they’re gone and that I can’t bring them back. There’s nothing more that I need to make peace with.”

Ophilia is quiet for a moment. “Except something keeps telling me that there is.”

Their gazes meet, Ophilia’s concerned and intent, Primrose’s sombre, before Primrose scoffs. “Nothing gets past you.”

Ophilia shrugs. “I do my best.”

“How do you do it anyway?” Primrose asks. “Did your faith in the gods always come easily to you?”

“At first,” Ophilia admits, staring thoughtfully at the Flame behind the altar. “But it’s not as easy as it was when I was younger.”

“But you always believed in them. Believed in their presence.”

“Yes. I always did.”

“You never once thought to question that? Before you had even seen them?”

Ophilia shifts in her seat and sighs, turning her gaze towards the floor. “It’s not really something that I can question in the position I’m in. Whether or not I can see them or feel their presence, I believe in them and I believe in their miracles and their gifts. Why, everywhere I go, I see evidence of their presence - in the world they created and the kind hearts of the people that inhabit it. I understand why people can sometimes feel as if the gods have abandoned them. And...even I must admit that a world created by the gods can be cruel. But I believe that there’s something bigger than us all at work, some greater power that drives us all to goodness and helps us strive to be the best that we can be. I think...that’s what it means to believe in the gods. To believe in the inherent goodness of people who were created in their shape and to believe that we are capable of greater things than what we might seem able to do.”

Primrose nods and draws the blanket closer to herself. “I envy your faith in the gods. Your faith in people, even.”

“But you have faith too, don’t you?” Ophilia says. “It may be a different sort of faith than mine, but if the belief in it sustains you when you have nothing else, then it is still something worth believing in.”

“Yes,” Primrose says. “I suppose I had faith. Once. For so long...it was all I held on to. Faith in my father’s innocence. Faith in the justness of my cause. Faith in my own revenge. Faith that one day, I’d see it through to the end. It was something that I could see, something that I could touch and hold in my hands almost. It was certain and it was...well, it was there. And I knew that as long as I could see it, as long as I could picture it, I wouldn’t be led astray.”

“Faith shall be my shield,” Ophilia repeats the saying. “Right?”

Primrose nods. “Always has been.”

“Is it any different now?”

Primrose scoffs. “So much more than I expected.”

She wrings her hands on her lap, twisting the front of her night robe. Ophilia’s eyes catch the movement and she lays a hand over Primrose’s, firm and unwavering. Primrose’s fidgeting comes to a standstill as she turns to face Ophilia fully, traces of tears at the corners of her eyes. 

“I put my faith in things I can see,” she says, her voice steady despite the subtle tremble of her hands. “In things that are certain. That are proven. My father’s unjust murder was something I could prove. The death of the Crows - of Simeon - was something I could make certain. But this...this isn’t anything I can perceive at all.” She pauses, biting at her lower lip in a vain attempt to stop the tears from flowing. 

“You say you had faith in the gods even before you had seen them in front of you,” Primrose continues, “but I’m not like you, Phili. You see the gods in the kind people you’ve met, in the beauty of the world around you, but that’s not the same world I see, nor have I met the same kind people. You see the good in every single person you meet and that’s how you keep your faith. But I could never put my faith in something that I have never seen before. Things like blood, like revenge, like justice - these were things that I could understand and believe in. But now...now I don’t need to hold on to those things anymore. So then...”

Primrose leans forward and rests her forehead on Ophilia’s shoulder, her long brown hair coming down to cover her face. “What can I put my faith in now?”

Outside, the blizzard grows in intensity and the wind knocks against the cathedral’s windows like a wild animal wanting to be let in. The First Flame flickers for the briefest moment but flares back up a second later, and just as quickly as it does, Ophilia casts her hesitation aside and embraces Primrose, holding her close as if seeking her fleeting warmth.

“You don’t need to be like me,” Ophilia says. “I never expected you or anyone else to be. You don’t need to believe in the same things that I do, and I...I’m sorry that you had to face all of the world’s cruelties alone before you got to see its kindness.”

Ophilia runs her fingers gently through Primrose’s hair. “You know, for all my faith in the gods, there are moments where even my own faith is tested. Even I am unsure sometimes of things that I cannot see. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Being scared, being doubtful...that’s just part of being human.”

Primrose sniffs and she reaches out to return Ophilia’s embrace, wrapping her arms around Ophilia’s shoulders. “Prim,” Ophilia says, and the sound of her own name in such a kind and tender voice makes Primrose shiver, makes her allow the first sob, coming out like a ragged breath, to be heard. “Look at me.”

Slowly, Primrose raises her head and Ophilia holds her face in her hands, wiping away whatever tears she can reach with her thumbs. 

“If you need something to put your faith in,” she says, looking straight into Primrose’s eyes, “put your faith in me. Put your faith in your friends. Put your faith in the people who love you and care about you and who are here for you. Those are things that will never change, that will never go away. From now on, we’ll be your shield.”

Primrose blinks and her eyes go wide. For what feels like minutes, her face is frozen in a look of surprise and realization. Then, much to Ophilia’s own surprise, she cracks a small smile and begins to laugh - softly at first, but slowly becoming louder.

“Wh-” Ophilia’s face flushes, though she manages to keep the smile intact. “Was something I said funny?”

“Sorry for ruining such a tender moment,” Primrose says when the laughs finally subside, “but it was just too cheesy for me to handle.”

Ophilia huffs in indignation. “W-Well, sorry if I was only trying to make you feel better.”

Primrose grins. “Don’t worry. You did.”

She wipes at the remaining tears in her eyes, using the corner of the blanket to get rid of the rest, before she takes Ophilia’s chin in hand and leans forward for a soft, chaste kiss. “Thank you, Phili.”

Ophilia’s face erupts in a bright scarlet before she gives a small laugh of her own and presses her forehead against Primrose’s, bringing her hand up to caress Primrose’s cheek. “We’re your shield now, remember?” In a quieter voice, she adds, “You don’t need to have everything figured out right now. Not everything has to be set in stone. But if there’s one thing that you can always be sure of, it’s that you’re not alone anymore.”

“You’re right,” Primrose says softly. “I never was alone. It just took me some time to see it.”

They remain that way for a long moment, content for now to stay in the reassuring solidity of each other’s presence, until the blizzard seems to calm and the cathedral no longer echoes with the noise of the storm outside and the cries of whatever nightly terrors prowl amid the snowdrifts. And soon, nothing but the sound of the crackling fire and their own breathing can be heard. 

“Do you feel better now?” Ophilia asks and Primrose nods her head. “So much better, when you’re here.”

Ophilia smiles. “Well then,” she says, extracting herself carefully from Primrose, “we should have been in bed hours ago.”

Primrose gives a soft laugh. “I was hoping we could stay up just a little bit longer.”

“Prim,” Ophilia warns with a sudden scolding tone and Primrose laughs as she wraps her arms around Ophilia’s neck. Whatever reprimand Ophilia had ready for her is plucked out of her lips by a kiss, less chaste than the one before, and what little resistance Ophilia puts up in the beginning melts away as Primrose climbs into her lap and deepens the kiss even more.

Ophilia breaks away with a gasp, cheeks flushed and eyes darting furtively around the cathedral. 

“Do you think the gods are watching?” Primrose teases and Ophilia looks away, embarrassed. “It’s silly,” she says, breathless, “I know no one else is awake, but…”

Primrose smiles. “We don’t have to if you’d rather not risk it in a place like this.”

“No, I…” Ophilia draws in a breath and quickly recaptures Primrose’s lips in a not-so-chaste kiss of her own, surprising the dancer. When she draws back, she stares resolutely back at Primrose’s stunned expression. “Let the gods watch.”

Primrose smiles mischievously. “My, bold words from a sister of the Flame. And not just any sister, from the Flamebearer herself even.”

Ophilia giggles. “I have faith enough in the gods to know that they can bear to overlook this just once.”

“Just once?” Primrose says. “Why not forever?”

“Just once,” Ophilia chastises. “Even I’m not _ that _ faithful.”

Primrose laughs before Ophilia meets her half way for another kiss, chasing each other’s warmth through the long, wintry night. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! as always, kudos and comments go a long way in helping me write more fanfics like this. 
> 
> feel free to follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/kalihimpan) if you want to see more of my writing or updates on my current series <3


End file.
